16. The Poisoning of a Grounded Mind
Danny and Richard where back on the road again, after they found out that Route 25, the place Bill lived, was not the way towards Vermillion City, instead, it was to some old town which they didn't visited, yet.
While going back towards Cerulean City, the bridge they had went over earlier was now not as empty as the first time they passed through.
"Trainers, follow me." A man said, as he took both Danny and Richard and led them towards the bridge.
"On this bridge are three trainers, they all battle you, and if you win, you get a great prize!" The man said. Danny looked forward, and saw the three trainers, all three boys around the age of 17/18, waiting for him. The weird thing was, all were wearing the same clothes: A had, trousers and a t-shirt, all in a light brown color, like they were some sort of camouflaged hikers.
The man that was guiding them towards the bridge, was wearing a high, black head, and a black suite.
"My name is Thomas, but you can call me sir." Sir Thomas said. "And we are here to see these two trainers battle their way through the Yellow Bridge, formerly known as the Nugget Bridge."
Danny and Richard looked around, an saw a lot of people surround them. The three boys on the bridge where seemingly in their habitat, and where making the crowd crazy.
"I'll go first." Danny said to Richard. "That is the spirit!" Thomas shouted, in what looked like a Microphone.
"Where did he get that one?"
"Are you ready to meet and fight the Grounded Brothers?" The first boy said. "My name is Greg." "Well, better get started than." Danny said. "Bellsprout, start things off." "A Grass type huh, well, let's see. Cubone, get things going."
"Am I having a Deja vu? Again Bellsprout against Cubone, but this time, Bellsprout needs to win."
"Cubone, start things off with Bone Club." "Bellsprout, use your Vines to get up in the air!" Cubone threw the bone it was holding, and it hit Bellsprout's vines, making the Flower Pokémon fall onto the ground, not able to get up in time.
"Cubone, finish it off with another Bone Club." Greg commanded. This time, Cubone didn't throw it, it ran towards Bellsprout and was ready to smash it onto the Grass type, and it almost succeeded. Bellsprout knew it had to do something, and it silently and almost unnoticed grabbed Cubone's legs. The only one seeing it was Danny, who decided it was better not to give the order.
Cubone was suddenly lifted into the air, accidentally dropping its bone, and Bellsprout quickly looked at its trainer for directions. "Well, the water doesn't look like a good idea." Danny said, instantly knowing Bellsprout's plan. "Just throw it done onto the bridge." Bellsprout, looking a little bit disappointed, knew it had to follow Danny's orders, and dropped Cubone at the bridge.
"Cubone, are you okay?" Greg asked, but Cubone stayed down, not wanting to fight anymore. "Sigh, Cubone, return." Greg was visibly disappointed. "Congratulations, you defeated the first of the three Grounded Brothers, the other two won't be as easy." Greg stepped aside, letting Danny pass.
Richard decided it would way too long to wait for Danny to finish with the other two, so he walked towards them.
"Greg, can I battle you now?" Richard asked. "Why should you? You can already pass, you two are together, so you can both go." Greg said.
"Danny! Wait." Richard hurried towards Danny. "Only one of us needs to battle all three." Danny looked at his friend. "So?" "Can I have one?" A big smile appeared on Richard's face. "Sure you can." Danny smiled now as well. "But first, let me take this one."
"Hi trainer, my name is Olaf, I am the second Grounded Brother you'll need to face. Sandshrew, come on out!" Olaf let a Sandshrew out of his Pokéball.
"Bellsprout, you just battled a great match, mind if I give this one to Krabby?" Bellsprout shook its head, knowing that if Krabby would become stronger, Bellsprout would have a new sparring partner.
"Krabby, this one is for you!" Krabby appeared outside of its Pokéball. "Use Bubble." "Ah, we are getting into it directly? Sandshrew, use Rollout."
Krabby's Bubble hit, but didn't did any damage, and Sandshrew's Rollout was getting closer. Danny remembered the last time he was battling against a Rollout:
- "Great Sandshrew, use Rollout." Sandshrew started rolling, too fast for Krabby to keep up with. Sandshrew hit Krabby once, twice, and still continued to roll around the battlefield.
"Krabby, look out!" Danny yelled, but it was no use. The rollout attacks kept coming, and Krabby couldn't handle it.
"Stop the match." Danny sighed. Richard looked up. "But we're not done yet." He said confused. "I don't think Krabby is ready yet to face you." Danny answered. –
That battle was a friendly match with Richard before both entered Mt. Moon, this time, he had to win.
Danny heard his name. "Danny, try to get Krabby in his habitat." Richard said.
Krabby's habitat? The only thing around is a golden bridge, made of iron, and the river. Wait, that's it. The river is Krabby's habitat."
"Krabby, jump into the water." Krabby nodded and quickly dived in, safe from Sandshrew's Rollout attacks.
"No!" Olaf wasn't happy with the turns of events, knowing the water was something he and his Sandshrew could never touch. "Sandshrew, use Poison Sting!" The Stings coming from Sandshrew left a small, purple spot on the water, but didn't get to where Krabby was. Namely, Krabby had swam towards the other side of the bridge, and had now a clear shot.
"Krabby, use your Bubble." Sandshrew got suddenly attacked from behind, and couldn't take the super effective water attacks, and fell done.
"Sandshrew, no!" Olaf was looking just as defeated as Greg. "Sandshrew, return. You can now go to the last Grounded Trainer."
"Well, done Krabby, return." Danny said. "Richard, this one is all yours."
On one of the branches of a tree nearby, was a silhouette silently watching the battles. "He is good Venonat, real good." The Venonat next to the person nodded in agreement.
Back on the bridge, Olaf had stepped aside for Danny and Richard to walk on towards the last Grounded Brother.
"The name is Daniel, I am the oldest and last Grounded Trainer you will have to defeat to get off the Golden Bridge."
"Sure, Squirtle, you up for it?" Squirtle stepped forward, ready to rumble. "Geodude, come on out." Daniel, just as his two brothers, let out a Ground Type Pokémon.
"Geodude, use Tackle." "Squirtle, use Withdraw." Squirtle pulled his legs, arms and his head into his shell, and easily took Geodude's Tackle.
"Now, use Water Gun!" Geodude couldn't handle a full front Water attack, and fell down.
"Geodude, return." Daniels sighed. "Well done Squirtle." Richard petted Squirtle on his head. Squirtle was at one point happy, but at another point a little bit disappointed in the easiness. Even for a Pokémon that doesn't care too much for battling as Squirtle, it was an easy match.
"Well done trainers." Thomas said, walking over the bridge towards Danny and Richard. "You two have beaten my three trainers. See you around."
Danny looked at Richard to see if he thought the same, which was the situation, so he decided to ask it. "Eh, sir. Our prize?" "Of course, almost forgot it. Here you go, on Nugget." Neither Danny or Richard had ever heard about a Nugget before, so there questioning looks where visible and enjoyable.
"I see you don't know what I have in my hands, do you?" Thomas laughed. "To be honest, no, we don't." Richard said. "Well, this is a Nugget, made completely of gold, if you sell it, you can earn a lot of money." Thomas slowly ticked on the Nugget.
"Well, thank you then." Danny said, and both boys walked away towards the city.
"Come on Venonat, let's follow those two." The silhouette said. The person jumped of the branch and walked towards the Golden Bridge.
"Hold it right there, if you want to cross, you'll need to fight the Grounded Trainers, if you win, you get a great prize." Thomas walked towards the person. "But if you lose, you have yourself a problem…" He slowly laughed, and his high head fell off, and revealed another hat, a cap with three letters wrote on it:
NTR
Danny and Richard had just arrived back in Cerulean City, once again. Between you and me, they can't see to get enough from this city.
As they went towards the Pokémon Mart, Richard notices something. "You know Danny, I always thought gold was really heavy, this is weights almost nothing." "Don't worry, that Thomas looked really honest, he doesn't look like a crook to me."
The two of them walked into the Mart, and the man behind the desk seemed interested to have some customers in his mart.
"Welcome, you are the first two visitors today, can I help you?" "Yeah, we've got this golden Nugget, and we want to sell it." "That sounds really good, let me see it."
Richard laid the Nugget onto the counter.
"Now let me see." The man started feeling around the Nugget, and his expression went from optimistic from negative. "I'm sorry boys, but this isn't a real Nugget, it is a wooden one sprayed with golden paint."
"I said it wasn't heavy enough to be real gold." Richard said. "That Thomas has scammed us." "He looked so honest though." Danny silently said. "So much of your human knowledge." Richard could push out a small laugh, but it wasn't from the heart.
"I'm really sorry, I wish it was real." The shopkeeper said. "At least thanks for your time." Danny said.
"Now let's get that Thomas." Richard said furiously. "Yeah, he is probably still at that Golden Bridge."
"Hello, we are the Grounded Brothers, you can't pass this bridge before you defeated us."
"O no? Koffing, show this wimps how it's done."
Danny and Richard ran towards the Golden Bridge again, and when they did, they saw a girl, completely dressed in black clothing. She had purple hair, and a dark pink cape. She kinda looked like a ninja, and she was now fighting the Grounded Brothers, her Koffing vs Sandshrew, Cubone and Geodude. And looking at it, it didn't looked too good for Koffing.
"That isn't fair." Danny said, and took the Pokéball of his Bellsprout. Richard noticed, and he looked back to where his Squirtle was standing. "Ready for round 2?" Squirtle nodded.
"Hey!" The Grounded Brothers, Thomas and the Ninja girl looked at Danny, who came walking in. "It isn't fair to fight 3 vs one."
"We do what we want, this is our bridge." Greg said. "You already won, so get lost."
"I don't think so, Bellsprout, help out." Danny walked up to the girl and turned around. Richard did the same, taking Squirtle with him.
"We defeated you easily the first time, it will go the same this time around." Richard smiled. "You can't do this. I won't allow it." Thomas said angry. "You wait there, we've got a word with you after the match." Thomas instantly knew they had found out of his fake Nuggets, and also knew he should get out of there, since he wasn't a real fighter.
"Squirtle, use you Bubble." " Bellsprout, Razor Leaf!" The girl looked at both Danny and Richard and their battling spirit. "Koffing, can't stay behind can we? Get them with your Smog attack."
The three Ground types couldn't get away, and got hit with Bubble, than the leafs of Bellsprout, and finally the Smog of Koffing. Neither Geodude, Sandshrew or Cubone could get up.
"Like I said, defeated again." Richard laughed. The Grounded Brothers made a run for it towards Cerulean City.
"I don't think we need to worry about those three again." Danny said. "Now Thomas." But when they turned around, Thomas was far gone already. "Damn, we needed to have a word with him." Danny said cranky.
"Thanks for helping me out guys, Koffing could handle one of them, but not three Ground types." The girl said. "My name is Janine by the way." "Nice to meet you, I am Danny." "And my name is Richard." Both shook hands with the girl named Janine.
"Why didn't they let you through?" Danny asked, when the three of them where sitting in the Pokémon Centre, while their Pokémon got a good healing time.
"I don't know, I wanted to cross, and they went full on me." Janine answered. "I saw your battle though, you two are really strong." "Thanks." Danny answered. "My guess is that both of you at least have two gym badges, am I right?"
"Danny does, I don't." Janine looked surprised at Richard. "Why not?" "I don't like travelling the trainer's way. I rather take care of my Pokémon instead of emphasize the battling aspect." Richard quickly explained. "I understand your point, some people go way too far with their battling." Janine sighed.
"And you? Why are you on a journey?" Danny became more curious with the minute, for that mysterious girl that had watched them.
"I'm, eh…. Traveling around the region to improve my skills as a Poison type trainer. And one day, I hope to beat my father in a real battle." She said.
"You are a Poison type trainer?" Danny said. "Must be though." "You'll get used to it." Janine laughs. "And I couldn't wish me any better Pokémon than the two I have with me now."
Nurse Joy walked up to the table the three of them where sitting at. "I am happy to inform you that your Pokémon are all at full health again." She gave six Pokéballs at Danny, three at Richard and two towards Janine.
"Venonat, Koffing, come on out!" A Venonat and a Koffing appeared in the area.
"Wow, a Venonat, I have never seen one before." Danny said. "Let's see what my Pokédex can tell me about it."
Venonat, a Bug Pokémon. Its eyes function as radar allowing it to see in the dark.
"That sounds like an interesting Pokémon." Richard stated, looking at the little Insect Pokémon, now hugging against Janine's legs.
"It really is. It isn't too strong though, so I usually use my Koffing in combat." Janine explained. "I have trained Koffing for a very long time. It actually surprises me she hasn't evolved yet."
"It will, someday." Richard said to comfort her. "Now let me introduce my friends. You already met Squirtle, well, here are his friends." Sandshrew and Eevee appeared out of their Pokéballs, Eevee with a lot of light.
"Wow, you have a Shiny Eevee? I'm so jealous right now." Janine joked. "How did you get it?" "I captured it here, in Cerulean, she was captured by someone from the New Team Rocket."
"Nurse Joy!" A guy came running in. "There is a problem in Greyville Town." "Oh no, what's wrong?" "Some guy from Team Rocket walked in and attacked our major!"
"That must be that guy from the Golden Bridge!" Janine said. "Thomas?" " Yeah, he had a cap with the NTR on it, he must be part of the NTR as well!" "Then let's go."
Danny, Richard and Janine went back over the Golden Bridge, which was now deserted. They did see, however, Olaf sitting at a rock on the other side.
"Olaf, we need to talk." Danny run towards him. "Where is Greyville town and what is Thomas planning?" "Greyville is down the road, but what's wrong with Thomas?" Olaf was honestly not aware.
"Thomas is part of the NTR, and we just heard he attacked the major of Greyville." "What! That was never the plan. He just asked me and my brothers if we wanted to battle on the Golden Bridge." "Don't mind it." Richard said. Olaf was way too young to be a criminal, he didn't even looked 15 year.
"Come on, let's go after them." Janine said. "I'll go with you." Olaf stood up, and started running as well.
Greyville Town is a small town, not too much inhabitants, and it got its name due to the grey stones used for the buildings. It was pretty close to Cerulean City, going over the Golden Bridge and then only straight on.
When they arrived in the small town, nothing seemed to be wrong. Except one thing, there was no-one on the streets.
"Where is everyone?" Danny was the only one to ask. "Maybe there is a festival or something?" Olaf proposed. "And the entire city being quiet? I don't think it is a festival or something." Janine said, looking around, but next to the empty streets, the houses where all empty as well.
"This entire town is deserted." Richard was now ahead of the others, trying to see if there was someone in the narrow side streets, but they were alone in the town, so it seemed.
One man came running towards them. He was completely in panic. "Mister, mister wait!" Danny tried, but the man continued running like there was no tomorrow.
"Stop it!" Janine stepped right in front of the man, giving him no other option than to stop.
"Get away, there here. Team Rocket, they took the town." "What! They took the town?" "Yeah, one man, he took the mayor hostage and is now demanding we all listen to him, other Team Rocket members are on their way here."
"If there is only one man, than why are you running?" "Because a second member is already here, and he attacks everybody who runs off."
Speaking of the devil: The Rocket member walked on the scene, a Zubat flying near him. "Where do you think you are going?" The man shouted. Richard remembered the voice a little bit too well, and at that moment, the NTR member couldn't have found a worse place to be than in Greyville Town.
"You!" Richard ran towards Carl, it was indeed the thief that stole Squirtle and Eevee and some other Pokémon, and hit him straight in his face, which made Carl step back.
"You got a lot of nerve to get around here." Richard shouted. "Squirtle, use Bubble." "Richard wait, are you going to attack a man!" Danny stopped Richard from taking Squirtle's Pokéball, who was temporary in there, and managed to calm the trainer a little bit down.
"You tell that Thomas that we are here now, and that we will bring you down this instant." Janine said threatening. Carl, never the bravest, nodded and ran off towards the major's house, where Thomas was currently resisting.
"Olaf, you run back to Cerulean, and get Officer Jenny." Danny said. "We will make sure she got two criminals to lock away." Olaf nodded, and ran off.
"And what do we do?" Richard asked. "You let him go away." "We will do what Janine told Carl. Take them down." Janine nodded. "Then come on."
Following the main road, they managed to get to an impressive house, which they guessed was the major's house. It was confirmed when they saw Thomas walking out of the door, followed by Carl.
"So, we meet again." Thomas said. He was no longer wearing his silk clothes, now, it was just an NTR uniform, complete with the cap that was already seen by Janine.
"Thomas, why do you do this?" Richard asked. "I mean, this is just a small town, why should you want to take it over?" "It isn't this city, we want to get everyone to a neutral base, from here out, we can attack Cerulean."
"So that's their plan, let's break it to them."
"Sorry, but we can't allow that." Janine said. Her tone sounded normal, but her eyes didn't go along, they were cold like ice.
"Carl, you fight them." Thomas said, as he turned back and walked inside the house again.
"O-okay. Zubat, come on out." Carl said. "Do we really need to do this again?" Richard sighed. "Eevee, it's your turn."
Eevee wasn't a real fighter either, but when she recognized Carl, she gained a lot of fighting spirit.
"Eevee, use Quick Attack." Eevee started running. "Zubat, dodge it." Zubat was faster than the last time, but still not a match for Eevee, who hit it hard. Zubat was not defeated yet. When Carl said he would train with it more, he did.
"Zubat, use Leech Life." "Eevee, finish it off with Quick Attack!" Eevee hit Zubat again, and this time, Zubat felt down, unable to continue battling.
"Crap, Zubat. Couldn't you do any better?" Carl returned Zubat and then looked up, just in time to see a police car driving into the town.
"O no, Thomas!" Richard ran forward, and grabbed Carl by his arm. "O no, you are not going anywhere.
Officer Jenny stepped out directly when the car was stopped, the agent behind the wheel was quickly out of it either.
"Hi Officer. Here is the criminal that escaped last time." Danny said, as he pointed towards Carl, who made a great resemblance with a bag of pudding.
"The other one is in the building. He has hostages." Janine added. "Don't worry about that." Officer Jenny took a megaphone, and started shouting.
"You are surrounded, get out with your hands up." From out of the house cam a response. "I have hostages, so better back off."
"Officer Jenny, I might have an idea." Janine said. "Koffing, come on out. Use Smokescreen on the house." The entire house became cloaked in thick, black smoke.
"Come on agent, let's go in." Jenny and the other agent ran inside the building. 5 minutes later, the mayor, his wife and his son came walking out, each of them a tissue before their mouths. Another minute later also revealed Officer Jenny, the other agent and a handcuffed Thomas, who was heavily cuffing.
"Put them both in the car." Jenny said towards the agent. While Thomas passed by Danny, the last one put the fake Nugget in his pocket. "Here you go. A Nugget, if you sell it, you can earn a lot of money." Danny said. He slowly ticked with his finger on the Nugget, and started to laugh. Thomas gave him an angry look, and stepped into the car, next to Carl.
"Well done guys, thanks to you, we have arrested two more members of the NTR, and a lot more are on their way towards Greyville Town, so they will be easy to take in."
After the car drove away, the mayor walked towards the three. "As the mayor of Greyville Town, I want to thank you as well." He took a Nugget out of his pocket, a shining on. "Watch out, it is heavy." Richard took it, and it really was heavy. The mayor started to laugh. "Don't worry, it is real." "I can feel that." Richard laughed along.
After waving goodbye to the people of Greyville, who were all hiding in their attics and basements, Danny, Richard and Janine where walking back on the Golden Bridge.
"We are not going into Cerulean City anymore, we will follow this road, that lead towards Vermillion City, so I guess this is goodbye." Danny said. Janine said nothing for a while. "You know Danny, Richard, I have been thinking, do you mind if I tag along with you guys. You two are both really strong, and I can learn a lot from you."
Both Danny and Richard where happily surprised. Richard was the first one to say something. "No, of course not. That sounds like a lot of fun." Danny nodded. "It does indeed." "Great." Janine laughed, and both of the boys laughed as well.
Now with the three of them, they can continue their way towards Vermillion City, where Danny can fight in his third gym battle.
Sorry for the little delay, but since I completed the fifteenth chapter Saturday, I couldn't finish this one yesterday. So yes, Janine is coming along Danny and Richard, my guess is that most of you already know who she is, but that won't be revealed for a while.
Also, Greyville City doesn't exist for real of course, I made it up, it lays above Cerulean City, between Cerulean and Bill's Cottage. Next Sunday will be a new chapter, I hope this time right on time. See you next week.